AEW Collision recap & reactions: Christian Cage does it again (2024)

Saturday night is alright for fighting. AEW Collision (Aug. 10, 2024) emanated from Esports Stadium in Arlington, TX. The show featured Christian Cage outsmarting the trios contenders, Thunder Rosa finishing the feud with Deonna Purrazzo in a Texas Bull Rope fight, Swerve Strickland offering an open challenge, Hikaru Shida calling for a huge match, and more.

Christian Cage does it again

The trios division is crowded at the top. The Patriarchy hold the AEW World Trios Championship. The House of Black had claim to #1 contendership until Christian Cage voided their case. The Bang Bang Gang wanted another shot at gold after the Patriarchy cheated to beat them. Christian used his political stroke to arrange a solution. The main event of Collision would be an official #1 contender bout between the House of Black and the Bang Bang Gang to challenge the Patriarchy at All In. One caveat though. Christian was the special referee.

Christian arrived in style wearing a turtleneck referee shirt.

For the most part, Christian called it clean down the middle. There was one instance when he declined to accept a hot tag for the HoB. Christian was busy trying to restore order when the Gunns rushed in, and he claimed that he missed seeing the tag. There was nothing truly egregious about his effort... Until the finish.

The Bang Bang Gang hit a 3:10 to Yuma on Brody King. Buddy Matthews broke up the pin, then chaos erupted. An explosion of hard-hitting moves all around put the six wrestlers down. Everybody was knocked out. Christian shrugged then started a standing ten-count. Nobody moved as the count increased. Matthews was almost to his feet at 9. Boom! Christian speared Matthews and counted 10. Double count-out. No winner. No challengers for the Patriarchy at All In.

Luchasaurus, Nick Wayne, and Mama Wayne stormed the ring with chairs to beat down their rivals. The final image was Christian hitting the Kill Switch to Malakai Black onto a steel chair.

Man oh man, Christian Cage is a crafty one. That fink did it again. It never ceases to amaze me what tricks he has up his sleeve. Christian lulled me into focusing on the action. There was electricity in the air from the crowd for this match. It was an interesting blend of attitudes between the rowdiness of the Bang Bang Gang and the stoicism of the House of Black. The excitement was hot at the ten-count, then Christian took a dump on the whole proceedings to ensure no winner. It was funny and also a letdown in a good way. Both teams hooked me hard with desire to see a victor, so the finish was unsatisfying in that sense. In the big picture, I can live with that, since it builds genuine heel heat on the Patriarchy. You know it’s money when they can draw real emotion from viewers. Wrestling logic would dictate that a three-way is in store for All In, but we’ll have to wait to find out how justice will be served.

Texas Bull Rope Match

Thunder Rosa and Deonna Purrrazzo are engaged in a fiery feud. Stipulations increased over time, and the Virtuosa emerged with two wins in a row in No DQ and a Lumberjack Match. Thunder upped the ante even higher for a Texas Bull Rope Match. This was her chance to settle the score and finish the game.

AEW hyped the bout with an epic video narrated by Dustin Rhodes.

The Texas Bull Rope Match was about danger. That much was clear when both women were bloodied during the bout. The competitors were attached at the wrist by a bull rope with a cowbell in the middle. Purrazzo was first to give us more cowbell. She pulled the rope to force Thunder into colliding with the ring post, then she cracked the cowbell on Thunder’s head to open a wound. Thunder had her turn to draw blood later in the match. She pulled Purrazzo off the turnbuckles to crash on a pile of chairs. La Mera Mera dropkicked a chair into Purrazzo’s face to cause a cut.

Out of the two, Thunder bled more profusely.

Down the stretch, Thunder survived a high-angle powerbomb and a Gotch piledriver to kick out and continue the fight.

Thunder turned the tide toward victory for a flying bulldog through a table. La Mera Mera finished with a fire thunder driver.

AEW spoke about this bout as the blow-off for the feud. Thunder earned the happy ending to vanquish her foe. It helped that the match was one-on-one with no Wera Locas milling around the ring. Thunder and Purrazzo brought intensity to make this feel like a big fight for a satisfying conclusion to their story.

Swerve’s mystery opponent

Swerve Strickland is set to defend the AEW World Championship against Bryan Danielson at All In. The mogul wanted to keep busy with a warm-up, so he offered an open challenge for an eliminator match. Tomohiro Ishii answered the call.

Swerve flowed grinding down his opponent with splashes of style, such as a Fosbury flop to the outside. Ishii was a Stone Pitbull absorbing punishment. Big Tom picked up the pressure for a superplex, a brainbuster, and a supercharged running lariat. Swerve kept kicking out on Ishii’s heavy hitters.

When Ishii went to finish for a brainbuster, Swerve flipped the switch to greatness. He escaped the move to come back for a jumping stomp to drive Ishii down to the mat. The House Call kick earned the win for the champ.

I feel like this match was basically to give the paying customers a chance to soak in Swerve’s glory. Deliver that star power to get their money’s worth. Satisfaction was delivered for a good fight. In terms of creating an angle for TV, not too shabby. We get the mystery opponent pop for a little suspense. Ishii was a worthy candidate. There are a handful of wrestlers that are tougher than tough to make the champ work. Ishii is one such example. The result was never in doubt, but Swerve couldn’t fool around. He received the best Ishii had to offer, and he rose to a higher level. This win was an example of the rarefied air of a world champion. Swerve is peaking strong on the road to All In.

As for Danielson, he had a sitdown interview with Jim Ross. Danielson acknowledged that his body is breaking down after a long career. He will probably have to get neck surgery before the end of the year. That said, Danielson believes that his mind is the most mentally strong that it has been in his career. That’s what will pull him through to win the world title.

The story for a feud between Swerve and Danielson is a little light for weekly TV, but all the pieces are coming together to produce an emotional main event for All In. With the title versus career stipulation, it really feels like this could be the end of the road for Danielson. All the talk about his body breaking down is 100% believable. Nobody wants to believe it until the moment finally arrives, however, the vibe points to retirement as the likely outcome. Win or lose, drama should be at a fever pitch. The story is shaping up for Danielson to have one of the gutsiest performances of his career. It has me wondering if this will be the AEW version of Shawn Michaels retiring Ric Flair. Instead of tears, Swerve will have a smile when claiming Danielson’s legacy for his own.

Let’s jam through the rest of Collision.

Darby Allin & Hologram defeated Tony Nese & Josh Woods. Mark Sterling and Ari Daivari interfered on the outside. In the end, Allin took them out with a dive. Hologram sent Nese packing on a back body drop over the ropes. The luchador picked up the win with a rolling crucifix pin on Woods.

The Hologram hype train continues chugging down the tracks. The luchador thrilled with flips and whirlybird moves. He also received the rub of partnering with Allin. I lost track how many weeks in a row that Sterling took a thumping. He entered this match wearing a sling. It won’t be long before the Premier Athletes have to wheel him out in a full body cast to watch their matches.

FTR defeated the Outrunners. Extended squash. Turbo Floyd and Truth Magnum weren’t chumps, but FTR were never in serious trouble. Hot tag to Dax Harwood for five consecutive German suplexes and a piledriver. Cash Wheeler slammed Truth to clear the path for a Shatter Machine to Turbo.

Amusing match from a character perspective. FTR had fun flexing muscles to taunt their vascular opponents. The Outcasts have over-the-top panache as goofballs. Check out the throwback vignette from Turbo and Truth.

Of note for FTR’s quest to regain gold, the Acclaimed will challenge the Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championship on Dynamite.

Rush defeated Preston Vance. This was a test from Don Callis to see how serious Rush was to do whatever it takes to reach the top. Vance saluted El Ingobernable Mayor. Rush responded by punching his honorary brother. Vance held his own to a degree. He muscled an offensive flurry for a German suplex, a spear, and a discus lariat. Vance tried to get cute by going for the Bull’s Horns dropkick. Rush caught him for a belly-to-belly suplex into the corner. El Toro Blanco hit the Bull’s Horns finisher to win. Afterward, Rush added more pain for a second Bull’s Horns dropkick. Callis was watching on a monitor backstage, and he seemed pleased with Rush’s ruthlessness.

Rush was a badass like usual. Vance stepped up to look good on power moves. With Rush focused on joining the Callis Family, I have to assume that this is a pause on Los Ingobernables faction. If AEW wants to mimic rumors from real life, then Rush should force Callis to hire Bestia del Ring. As much as I want to get excited about a push for Rush, the curse of the Callis Family softens enthusiasm. Rush might be third in line for a title behind Konosuke Takesh*ta and Will Hobbs. On the bright side, AEW is making an effort to showcase Rush in a story.

Hikaru Shida defeated Aleah James. Falcon Arrow slam sealed the deal in a dominating win. The takeaway came from a backstage promo. Shida wants real competition and a chance to return to Wembley, so she called out Mercedes Moné for the TBS Championship. Shida is the ace of the AEW women’s division. Word was passed that Tony Khan booked the bout for Dynamite.

Shida showed great passion in that promo. I love the confidence of calling herself the ace. It works, because she has the accolades to back it up. The eye test doesn’t lie either. Shida versus Mercedes is going to rock.

Notes: Kip Sabian is looking to get back in action and make a name for himself. Nick Wayne interrupted to accuse him of jealousy. Wayne is the youngest champion in AEW history, while Sabian is a nobody. The Prodigy challenged Sabian for a match on Rampage. Wayne closed with a despicable insult. Sabian’s dad died a loser, and Wayne will make sure Sabian goes out the same way. Quality heeling from Wayne. His attitude makes it easy to root against him.

AEW mashed together promos from MJF, Will Ospreay, and Kyle Fletcher for the American Championship bout at All In. Fletcher questioned Ospreay about his reluctance to use the Tiger Driver ‘91. Ospreay didn’t want that suffering on his conscience. Fletcher thought MJF is the one man to deserve that move. MJF said he would have no hesitation using the Tiger Driver ‘91.

Claudio Castagnoli wants to win the AEW Continental Championship before the Continental Classic tournament returns later this year. He is cashing in the title shot he earned for Dynamite in Cardiff, Wales on August 21.

Lexy Nair informed Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway of a challenge from Willow Nightingale. Willow wants to team with Tomohiro Ishii against Statlander and Hathaway at the All In pre-show. Hathaway was going to dodge the match, but Statlander interrupted to accept.

MxM Collection apologized to the Top Flight crew. Mansoor and Mason Madden are sorry that they didn’t make fun of Top Flight’s haircuts. Action Andretti heard enough. A tag team challenge was issued for this evening, but Mansoor declined. He broke a nail, so he is not cosmetically cleared to compete. Lio Rush entered to pass a message from Tony Khan. The models couldn’t read. Lio explained that MxM versus Top Flight goes down next week on Collision. As always, MxM are a hoot in their promos. The crowd reactions are popping to their hijinks.

Stud of the Show: Brody King

What a beast that man is. The moves I remember most from this episode came from King. He had a suicide dive onto the Bang Bang Gang.

Then, King followed up for a running crossbody to the Bang Bang Gang seated in chairs.

Match of the Night: Texas Bull Rope

Thunder Rosa and Deonna Purrazzo got mean and nasty to finish the feud.

Grade: A-

Fun show. Matches and promos had purpose.

Share your thoughts about Collision. How do you rate it? What were your favorite moments from the episode?